Rama Needs an Ultimatum, Not Legitimization from Brussels

Why do the bad things of the fake Brussels report outnumber the good
things that it could bring through the opening of negotiations? Even if
drafted with good intentions, why do the report and the negotiations it
could bring push us into a bad direction? In my previousarticle, I promised to give arguments for these questions.
My main argument is based on the thesis that Albania, under the
direction of its politico-economical class, during these 25 years has
made no step forward, not even small ones, in the right direction, but
has gone off into the wrong direction. And, as a result, the movement in
this wrong direction hasn’t brought us closer to what may be called
European standards – which we may in short refer to as “rule of law” ­–
but increasingly into the direction of a failed state, captured by the
oligarchy and organized crime, so much so that it could be referred to
as “narcostate.”
As proof for this I would only like to mention three things that seem
telling to me. First, the Albanian economy, which has always been weak,
informal, and linked to crime, and in recent years supported as never
before by funds from organized crime. Second, precisely because of this
Albanian economic phenomenon, Albanian politics has increasingly become a
representative and manager of criminal interests. Third, as a result of
the despair created by this process of decay the number of Albanians
that leave the country has dramatically increased in recent years.
To deny this reality with false data or pseudo-reforms seems to me a
weak attempt, but, nevertheless, the question asked by several
supporters of Albania is: even if under the current conditions, wouldn’t
it be better that Albania would enter bit more into the EU’s fold,
because that’s how these phenomena of decay couldn’t be halted more
easily?
In my opinion, this serious proposal warrants a proper discussion
both within the country and in the European countries that will make the
decision. I hope that this article facilitates such a discussion, which
in Albania is repressed by the propaganda of Rama that aims to
intimidate the opposition and any criticism with the accusation that
criticism of his government or Brussels obstructs the aspiration of the
Albanians to enter the EU, and that they are made – as if – by
anti-Albanians sold or bought by the enemy.
Keeping sight of Europe and its standards has played and continues to
play a positive role in preventing Albania from sliding into an even
more problematic situation, but in my opinion opening the negotiations
unaccompanied by true progress in Albania would devalue this
perspective, which, already in the current situation, has lost much with
the passing of the years. I even think that the opening of EU
negotiations with Albania would have more negative than positive
consequences in the long term, not only for Europe but also for the
European project.
One of the most negative consequences of recognizing a fake progress
would be that more than encouragement for the Albanian people, it would
be an encouragement of the political class which has brought the country
into this miserable state. As is known, the struggle to be legitimized
by Europe is unfortunately much more important for the Albanian
political class than the struggle to be legitimized by its own people.
It is enough to consider that during the entire time that he was
accused by the opposition or media for the cannabization of Albania and
its tragic consequences for the state, Prime Minister has used the
internationals as argument: “If this were the case why doesn’t the EU
Ambassador say anything? Why doesn’t the US Ambassador say anything?”
Opening the negotiations would give Rama his next round of ammunition to
deny any criticism of any opponent with the question: “So why did they
open negotiations with us?” And what’s even worse, this would give him
free hand to continue to put the state he leads to the service of his
own interests, a minority of oligarchs, and organized crime with ever
more irreparable consequences for the economy, democracy, and freedom.
But still, someone would insist, opening the negotiations would make
it easier to put a halt to this process through the mechanism of
negotiations. Referring to the experience so far with the relations
between Albania and the EU, I think that, especially considering the
current state of the EU, their correcting and negotiating power is very
small and evermore decreasing because its authority and legitimacy are
in decline. This is clearly shown by its impotence to halt the
anti-union and authoritarian phenomena that occur within its current
borders. The example of Turkey, which has been in negotiation since 2002
and has made dramatic steps backward could be another one.
In the long term, in the context of a process of European unification
that is increasingly in difficulty because of anti-European,
nationalist, and authoritarian tendencies, an Albania whose state is
captured by crime would be yet another argument to undo the European
project. Therefore, as I see the Albanian and European reality, Edi Rama
and the people that support him need, while it’s not yet too late, to
hear from the EU ultimatums regarding the miserable state in which they
have led the country rather than encouragement and legitimization.First published by Panorama, translated by Exit.

[image: Image result for albania in pyramid schemes]
SManalysis
Albania's public debt continues to remain at risky levels threatening the
economy. The latest official data from the Ministry of Finance show that at
the end of the first quarter of the year, public debt amounted to 8.3
billion euros, being over twice as high as the state budget.
According to Finance statistics, only in the first three months of the year
public debt has increased by 200 million euros, compared to the end of
2016, it has increased by more than half a billion euros.
[image: Image]
Albania's public debt g... mehr »

Alko Impex Also Applied in Kavaja with Fraudulent Documents

1 hrs ago

The company Alko Impex, whose several
infracions concerning public tenders by the Tirana, Elbasan, Dibra, and
other municipalities have been revealed lately, has also used falsified
documentations to compete for a tender in the Kavaja municipality.Exit has procured the documents filed
for the tender worth approximately €1 million, for “the clean-up and
maintenance of Kavaja city” during a 3-year period.Description of the tenderThe Kavaja municipality opened the
tender for “the clean-up and maintenance of Kavaja city,” with a funding
limit of €1,092,000 on January 22, 2016 and closed it on February 15,
2016. There were 6 bids.On March 23, 2016, the Kavaja
municipality announced that the winner was the company Alko Impex, which
had made a bid of €1,035,000, that is, 95% of the funding limit.Below, find all the violations
committed by the company owned by the nephew of Socialist MP Sadri Abazi
during the process of this tender:

One of the tender’s technical
criteria consisted in the company having had previous experience
performing similar services in the last three years, at an average price
of €437,000.

In order to prove that it fulfilled this criterion, the company had to present a contract and all the necessary attestations. To this purpose, Alko Impex presented a contract it had signed with the Prishtina municipality in 2013.According to the documentations filed
by Alko Impex, the contract with the Prishtina municipality, for “the
clean-up of city streets and sidewalks,” extended from April 15, 2013 to
April 15, 2015, that is, 2 years. According to Alko Impex, the contract
was worth €14,600 per week, or €60,000 per month.However, a look into Kosova’s Public
Procurement System (KRPP), where all the announcements for public tender
contracts are found, reveals that this contract was actually worth
€4596.1, a third of the value reported by Alko Impex.

The authentic contract signed by Alko Impex and the Prishtina municipality, March 2013Additionally, according to official
documentation, the contract only lasted 7 months, from April 15 to
November 15, 2013, rather than 2 years, as Alko Impex claims.It is, therefore, clear that Alko
Impex falsified the documentation regarding its previous contract with
the Prishtina municipality, in order to fulfill the criteria set forth
by the Kavaja municipality tender.

Another tender criteria was the
employment of a chemical engineer with at least 5 years of experience.
In order to fulfill this criteria, the company had to file a university
degree, with a Chemical Engineering major, belonging to one of its
employees.

However, the Kavaja municipality
inquired further at the University of Prishtina regarding this diploma,
and received the following response:

Regarding the inquiry you
sent us via email regarding the verification of the authenticity of Naim
Beqir Pllana’s diploma we would like to inform you that:There is no file on Naim Beqir Pllana in the College of Natural-Mathematical Sciences archives.The College of Natural-Mathematical
Sciences did not offer a Chemistry degree track in Mitrovica and Prof.
Shefqet Rashani, PhD has never been a Dean. The diploma presented to you
may have been falsified by the candidate or someone else.The aforementioned student does not even appear in the protocol book where all alumni data are recorded.

Therefore, Alko Impex has also falsified the diploma of one of its employees.This is the second known time that
Alko Impex has falsified one of its employees’ diploma. Earlier, in
tenders awarded by the Elbasan and Tirana municipalities, Alko Impex
used a fake diploma for one of its employees, Bekim Selmani. Selmani
himself spoke
to the media, distancing himself from the scandal, and claiming that
the company had used his credentials without his consent or awareness.
He stated that his personal information and his diploma have been
misused by Alko Impex and he would take all the proper legal steps to
fight back.The company has used the same
falsified documentation in at least two other tenders awarded in 2014
and 2017 by the Tirana municipality concerning the “Area III clean up.”
Consequently, these tenders are illegal.